IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/mathfi/v29y2019i2p409-447.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Realization utility with adaptive reference points

Author

Listed:
  • Xuedong He
  • Linan Yang

Abstract

Experimental studies have demonstrated that a typical investor derives utility of the gain and loss, relative to certain reference point, realized at each sale of a stock, and that the reference point adapts asymmetrically to the stock's prior gains and losses in that the adaptation to a gain is more substantial than to a comparable loss. This empirical finding motivates us to consider a dynamic trading problem in which an agent decides when to sequentially sell and buy a stock in order to maximize her utility of terminal wealth and realized gains and losses based on a reference point that adapts asymmetrically to the stock's prior gains and losses. We show that this agent is more reluctant to sell the stock at a loss than another agent whose reference point does not adapt to the stock gain or loss at all, leading to a higher percentage of gains realized (PGR) and a lower percentage of losses realized (PLR). We also show that when the agent weighs the utility of realized gains and losses more heavily in her investment criteria, she trades the stock more frequently, the PGR becomes lower, and the PLR becomes higher.

Suggested Citation

  • Xuedong He & Linan Yang, 2019. "Realization utility with adaptive reference points," Mathematical Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 409-447, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:mathfi:v:29:y:2019:i:2:p:409-447
    DOI: 10.1111/mafi.12182
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/mafi.12182
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/mafi.12182?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shuoqing Deng & Xun Li & Huyên Pham & Xiang Yu, 2022. "Optimal consumption with reference to past spending maximum," Finance and Stochastics, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 217-266, April.
    2. Zongxia Liang & Xiaodong Luo & Fengyi Yuan, 2022. "Consumption-investment decisions with endogenous reference point and drawdown constraint," Papers 2204.00530, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2022.
    3. Vicky Henderson & Jonathan Muscat, 2020. "Partial liquidation under reference-dependent preferences," Finance and Stochastics, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 335-357, April.
    4. Moris S. Strub & Duan Li, 2020. "Failing to Foresee the Updating of the Reference Point Leads to Time-Inconsistent Investment," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 68(1), pages 199-213, January.
    5. Shuoqing Deng & Xun Li & Huyen Pham & Xiang Yu, 2020. "Optimal Consumption with Reference to Past Spending Maximum," Papers 2006.07223, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2022.
    6. Yang, Chunpeng & Zhang, Zhanpei, 2021. "Realization utility with stop-loss strategy," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 261-275.
    7. Zongxia Liang & Xiaodong Luo & Fengyi Yuan, 2023. "Consumption-investment decisions with endogenous reference point and drawdown constraint," Mathematics and Financial Economics, Springer, volume 17, number 6, March.
    8. Xun Li & Xiang Yu & Qinyi Zhang, 2021. "Optimal consumption with loss aversion and reference to past spending maximum," Papers 2108.02648, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    9. Jia Yue & Ming-Hui Wang & Nan-Jing Huang, 2022. "Global Optimal Consumption–Portfolio Rules with Myopic Preferences and Loss Aversion," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 60(4), pages 1427-1455, December.
    10. Lou, Youcheng & Strub, Moris S. & Li, Duan & Wang, Shouyang, 2021. "The impact of a reference point determined by social comparison on wealth growth and inequality," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    11. Min Dai & Yipeng Jiang & Hong Liu & Jing Xu, 2023. "A Rational Theory for Disposition Effects," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 47, pages 131-157, January.
    12. Alex S. L. Tse & Harry Zheng, 2023. "Speculative trading, prospect theory and transaction costs," Finance and Stochastics, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 49-96, January.
    13. Alex S. L. Tse & Harry Zheng, 2019. "Speculative Trading, Prospect Theory and Transaction Costs," Papers 1911.10106, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2022.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:mathfi:v:29:y:2019:i:2:p:409-447. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0960-1627 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.